


reporting errors

by willowcabins



Category: Hawkeye (Comics), Young Avengers
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bechdel Test Pass, F/F, no secret identities
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-21
Updated: 2014-12-21
Packaged: 2018-03-02 16:22:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2818544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/willowcabins/pseuds/willowcabins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Daily Bugle spreads false rumours that Kate and America are dating. Kate is not pleased.</p>
            </blockquote>





	reporting errors

**Author's Note:**

  * For [littlecorncob](https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlecorncob/gifts).



> merry christmas, yuletide giftee!!! I hope this has enough female friendship!!!!!!!!!!!

Kate Bishop was running late; she had accidentally set her alarm for 7:47 instead of 7:17 (not an uncommon mistake, though usually Kate recovered from it better than she had that morning). She was still tired from the concert; she had gotten to bed embarassingly late. She was still hurriedly brushing out her hair as she jogged down the corridor. "When will you be back?" Her father was sitting at the dining room table, watching her with a disapproving eye. Kate sighed and quickly began shovelling the scrambled eggs into her mouth,

"I'm late dad," she said absently. He shook his head.

"Nonesense," he said. "Morgan will drive you. Now sit down. i want to talk to you."

"You do?" Kate asked, nearly choking on the hot eggs. She spat them out. Her father's expression darkened.

'Yes," he said, passing her a cloth napkin with a deep frown. "When will you come back after school?"

"Im busy after school," she explained lamely.

"I would like you to come home immediately," he said sternly. Kate looked up, surprised.

"Why?" She asked. Her father's lips thinned

"I don't like the characters with whom you chose to associate -"

"Dad we've been over with -"

"And I don't mean your band."

"My band?" Kate repeated incredulously.

"Yes, the one lead by the ... coloured boy?"

"Dad!"

"I do not mind them!" Her father repeated, his voice rising over Kate's. She frowned and hunched over her food protectively as she glowered up at her father.

"That's racist," she mumbled.

"It's not!" Her father protested, though he didn't seem genuniely upset. "I'm just making an observation."

"So if you don't mind the boys, why do you want me to come back?"

"What?"

"Why do you need me to come back from school?"

"Oh. Yes. I don't want any of this -" with that he slammed down the newspaper. On the title page, the headline read BISHOP HEIRESS PLAYS JULIET TO AN UNKOWN ROMEO; underneath it was a picture of Kate and America, holding hands in the New York Survivors Concert. The annual fundraising event to rebuild parts of New York after the alien invasion back in 2012 had been an amazing concert; all of the Young Avengers had gone. You could actually see Cassie's hand at the edge of the photo; Billy had found them a better place to stand so they could see Tommy's favorite band from a different angle, and they had just done the holding-hands-chain thing that one does at concerts. It was just a bad coinicendence that America and Kate had been caught on camera. Kate swallowed heavily and then looked up at her dad, who was glaring at her levely.

"This is not what it looks like," she squeaked.

"I don't know how this photo could be misconstrued," her father disagreed. Kate sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Its not what it looks like, dad," she repeated. "We were all at the concert together, and we weren't “holding hands”. We were walking through crowds in concerts. Look, you can see Cassie's hand here, right at the edge of the frame. She was holding my hand seconds before, its just I let go because I stumbled and then America helped me up and...."

"Her name is America?" Her father demanded, scoffing. "She is not even American!" Kate bit her lip.

"Dad," she repeated quietly.

"No, Kate, this is not the time to 'Dad' me. I got a call from your sister this morning telling me her house is mobbed with reporters who all want to know about the Bishop child's fall from grace,"

"Why do people care so much?"

"We're the wealthy, Kate. We are meant to show an example for the others."

"We're wealthy, father, not gods. And on that note, I have to leave."

"Sit /down. Morgan is driving you, and you can't get away with this kind of behavioour -"

"Forget Morgan, I'll get Billy to give me a lift. Bye dad."

"Kate!"

"I'm not talking about this anymore!"

"I expect you back from school immediately!"

"Whatever, Dad!"

 

"You left with that?" Eli demanded, frowning in disappointment.

"I couldn't think of a stronger finish," Kate admitted with a sigh, playing with the fraying sash on her bag.

"Yeah, that's kind of lame," Teddy agreed.

"Don't be such a klutz!" Billy reprimanded; "You were under stress," he told Kate sweetly. "Don't blame yourself for it."

"It's just... I don't know. I mean, there is /nothing/ going on between me and America -"

"Nothing?" Loki asked, filing his nails carefully. Kate sent him a glare.

"Remind me why you're here again?"

"You called an emergancy meeting!

"I don't remember calling you."

"I hear things."

“Kate rolled her eyes and decided to ignore him. "There's nothign between me and America, I don't even know why everyone makes such a big deal out of it. You were holding my hand right before, right, Cassie?" Cassie was looking at something on her phone. "Cassie?"

"Oh yeah, I was," she agreed, absently, looking up.

"What are you doing?" NoVar asked, inching behind her to see what was on her phone.

"Checking twitter," she mumbled.

"Why?"

"Because #Bishop is trending."

"What?!"

"Yeah, I was hoping it was because you're father was having a good day in the stockmarket...."

"The stockmarket hasn't opened yet,"

"Shush Billy. What does it say?"

"Emmmm..."

"Cassie!"

"Well, let's just say that half of New York totally supports your relationship."

"We're not in a relationship! America and I are /just friends/."

"Someone said my name?" She appears from a star of light with such elegance, Kate can't help but smile. She pushes back her hair and sits down next to Kate on the steps of the museum. Cassie dropped her phone in surprise (she had yet to get used to America's sudden appearances) and cursed.

"Nothing," Kate said evasively, waving her off. America raised an eyebrow.

"What?" She demanded. "I can tell when you're lying."

"I'm not lying!"

"You're a terrible liar. Especially for someone with a secret identity."

"Oh, shush you..."

"Oh! Nico tweeted at you!" Cassie interrupted pushing her phone towards Kate. Kate's brow furrowed,

"I don't have twitter!" She snapped, grabbing the phone.

"You do now!" Cassie said sheepishly.

"Why?!" Kate demanded.

"I thought this way you could face the rumours head on...."

"Head on? Really, Cassie?!"

"Sorry! This is just what Kayne West does..."

"Kayne West isn't 17!"

"She has a point," Eli reasoned calmly. "You'd better make an official statement."

"Official statement about what?" America askes, raising an eyebrow critically.

"The entirety of New York city thinks you and Kate are dating." Loki revealed. Kate turned to him so fast he cowered in terror, though he did not fear her punches half as much as America's. Kate was a great shot, but her punches only left black eyes, not holes in walls.

"Why do they think that?" America asked, turning to Teddy because he was sitting next to her. The blond grinned and pulled out a copy of today's "Bugle".

"This picture." America took the newspaper and stared at the picture, and then smirked.

"Cassie's hand is right there!" She pointed out, gesturing at the edge of the frame. Teddy smirked.

"/We know that," he assured her. "The rest of America just doesn't."

"We've become a national scandal?" America grinned. "I've never done that before."

"All well and good for you," Kate fumed, "but I have an angry father and an even angrier sister to deal with."

"Did you tell them we weren't dating?"

"My word doesn't mean that much to them right now..."

"I"m sure if you explain the situation..." Cassie began again. Kate and America both turned on her, eyes flashing in anger. Billy jumped up quickly.

"School time -" He chirped. "Who needs a lift?"

 

"Perhaps not everyone reads the Daily Bugel?" Cassie asked Kate as they both stood in front of the school gate. They went to the same private school know; Scott Lang had regained custody of his daughter, and at her request, sent her to school with Kate. Kate loved it; Cassie was a wonderful ally in the corridors surrounded by wealthy young people who  Kate gave her a disapproving glance and vaulted over the gate.  Cassie rolled her eyes and opened the gate. "You'll be fine," she repeated. Kate sighed.

The bell rang.

"We're gonna be late," she said dryly, and they walked into homeroom.

Cassie was wrong (of course Cassie was wrong; everyone loved Tabloid trash). Kate opened the door of her homeroom, and immediately thirteen bright eyes trained on her. Kate took a breath, and slipped into her seat.

"Ms Bishop." Her homeroom teacher gave her a pointed look. "Its nice of you to join us."

"Sorry, Ma'am," she mumbled, letting her hair swing in front of her face to hide her slight embarrassment. She felt all eyes on her, but tried to avoid them loudly. She gritted her teeth, and tried to ignore the whispers her entrance had caused.

"Wow, look its her."

"What a little spoiled brat."

"What does she think this is, a female prison?!"

"I bet she's just doing this to get attention."

Kate pulled out her phone. <This sucks.> She sent the text to Cassie.

<I know, I'm sorry,> Cassie replied quickly. Kate made a face and exhaled sadly. This was going to be a long day.

She opened twitter on her phone, and looked at the hashtag #KateBishop. It was insane. Half of the tweets were all applauding her for being a "young cosmopolitan lesbian" and a "great example for young women!" where the other half claimed she was "making other young women gay" and "showing a bad example" and going against "God's principles."

<God, Twitter is awful!>

<What? Oh no, did you go into the #KateBishop hashtag?>

<Yes>

<Fuck>

<Was I not meant to>

<No never do that>

<Really>

<Yeah also don't google yourself>

<What?!>

<Probably should have warned you about that.......>

"Kate!" Kate looked up. Her homeroom teacher was standing in front of her again, arms crossed. She held out her hand. "I know you made the front page of the Bugle this morning," she began, "but that gives you no excuse to text in class."

"But ma'am..."

"You can pick up your phone after classes have finished." The bell rang. Kate handed over her phone and nodded sadly. The c;ass began packing up. "Good bye, for now," her teacher said with a smile. Kate sighed, and slunk out of the classroom. At least she had first period (Biology) with Cassie.

Cassie could make this whole mess slightly better, right?

 

Kate's hope was short lived. In the corridor, she was intercepted by Deputy Director Coulson. "Kate Bishop," he called to her retreating back. She turned around and stiffened when she recognised him.

"Sir?" She asked.

"The Principal wants to speak to you," he explained with a shrug. Kate bit her lip and hung her head, but followed him anyway. She couldn't even text Cassie now; she really really wish someone would save her.

Deputy Director Coulson parked her outside the office, and she waited impatiently, fidgeting with a the remnants of a klenex she wound in her pocket. She made a face as her name was classed again and got up again, looking up slowly. Principle Hill was tall and imposing, and didn't look pleased.

"Ms. Bishop," she snapped, gesturing that Kate should walk into her office. Kate hung her head, and walked in, defeated. "I'm sure you know why you're here," the Principle started, indicating the Daily Bugle, which was open on the desk. Kate nodded in defeat. "Although I can't reprimand you for any behaviour you commit outside the school, I would like to inform you that I have been dealing with angry parents phoning in to complain about your behaviour all weekend. It's been exhausting and unpleasant to say the least, so I would you to make some sort of official statement."

"What kind of statement?"

"That that isn't you?"

"You want me to lie?"

"I want you to do damage control, Ms. Bishop. I think we both know that this kind of scandal is the type of scandal that haunts the school for the rest of your life."

"The rest of my life?!"

"Well, I mean..." Principle Hill sighed. She closed her eyes, and then opened them again. “Don’t get me wrong, Ms. Bishop,” she said clearly. “I have a girlfriend. I have no problem with queerness.”

“But we’re not even dating -” Kate began, but Principle Hill waved it off and continued.

“You need to deal this.” She said clippedly.

 

Kate, I think we have a problem."

"What is it, Cassie?"

"Well."

"What?"

"You know how the internet is crazy?"

"Yes."

"You know how sometimes I can start crazy things with realizing what I did?"

"...yes..."

"Well, those two combined don't work out so well."

"What?" Cassie gestured outsider the window. A giant banner reading 'HETEROSEXUAL LOVE IS THE ONLY LOVE THAT MATTERS' appeared in front of the window; behind it was at least fifty protesters, all with signs that read equally awful slogans. "What is this?" Kate demanded. Cassie stared at the ceiling, absently.

"I may have tweeted at FOX News," she said looking down at the corner of the room.

"What?!?!!" Kate demanded.

"Well, I mean, they may have tweeted something about you being a dirty lesbian, I may have replied telling them you were in fact a bisexual, and when they doubted my word I told them I would know I was your best friend, and then they said why should we believe you so then /I/ said I went to the same school as you and my school may or may not be listed on my twitter bio..."

"Cassie!"

"Well, I mean on the plus side you're on an article on GAWKEr and I gained nearly seventeen thousand twitter followers in the span of four hours and have been called a LGBTQ ally crusader."

"Cassie!!!"

"What???"

"THis is not what I wanted."

"Well -"

"AMERICA AND I AREN'T EVEN DATING."

"Well, I think you should tell those people that."

"Why can't you just advertise that this was a big misunderstanding."

"Well, mainly because no one would believe that."

"What?"

"Well, I mean its kind of weak, right?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's a weak defense."

"This isn't a court of law!"

"Well, I mean, I'm just saying, the Gawker article is applauding your forwardness..."

"I'm going to call America."

"Well, yes, that might be a good start..."

"Please don't cause more riots while I'm gone."

"Me? Cause Riots?" Cassie laughed. Kate shot her a glare. She gulped. "I'll try not to," she murmured.  

As far as Cassie could tell, Kate’s phone call with America was stressful. America claimed innocence of the whole affair, murmuring only monosyllabic replies to Kate’s pain. Kate rolled her eyes. “Fine,” she snapped. “You come down here and explain to my principal that I’m not a lesbian,” she snapped, hanging up on her clippedly.

“No luck?” Cassie asked cautiously. Kate gave her an incredulous look and she ducked her head.

“None, I suppose,” she murmured.

 

During her last period before lunch, Math, Kate got a text. “On the roof,” it read. It was from America. Kate frowned, biting her lip. Now that two hours had passed, she felt bad for how angry she had been with America. She sighed and raised her hand.

“May I go to the bathroom?” she asked. Her teacher excused her dramatically. Kate jogged up to the roof, making sure to note the time so she wasn’t absent too long.

When she got up on the roof, America was leaning over the railing looking down at the protesters in front of the school. Kate walked up to join her on the railing. They weren’t very high above the ground; the school was very wide, but not very hide, so Kate made sure to remain in the shadow of the clock tower so none of the protestors would see her. America smirked at her in greeting, and the indicated downward.

“You’ve created quiet a riot,” she noted. Kate glanced down, and then did a double take. To Kate’s unpleasant surprise, the number of protestors on the ground seemed to have multiplied an incredible amount.

“There are two camps,” America observed with a smirk. Kate gaped in surprise when she realised. Half the protesters were waving the same austere anti-homosexuality posters. The other half, on the other hand, were attired in wild rainbow colours waving around signs like “queer girls for the WIN” and “NOT NECESSARILY MONOSEXUAL.”

“My favorite is “LOVE IS NOT ILLEGAL” America decided, pointing at the sign. Kate narrowed eyes and chuckled at it. Then she caught sight of one with racial slurs, and she stopped smiling. A man from the “pro-homo” side began chanting something about “free rights to free hugs,” which seemed incredibly inappropriate to Kate in that environment. She sighed. Amerika glanced over at her.

“I’m sorry about this,” Kate murmured, burying her face in her hands. “I shouldn’t have gone to the concert with you guys. Eli and Principle Hill are right. I should just go out there and deny that the picture is even of me. It’s just my futzing luck, isn’t it.”  

America chuckled. "My picture was there too," she pointed out. Kate frowned.

"It's true," she mumbled.

"I just wish this was the type of problem I could punch," America said thoughtfully, staring out at the horizon. Kate grinned.

"Or shoot," she agreed. "A secret invasion of new york would be great right now. Are the Kree not interested?" America laughed.

"Or perhaps a nice civil war to remind people why they have superheroes anyway?" she offered. Kate nodded avidly.

"Yes!" She decided. "I should start my very own war. 'Believes in Kate,' and 'is part of the press' would be the two sides."   

“What side am I on?” America asked, quirking an eyebrow. Kate made a face.

“Potentially, if you behave, I’ll let you be a foot soldier.” She decided. America rolled her eyes and looked back out at the protesters. Before Kate could find something suitable to say to break their companionable silence, her name rang across the roof.  

“Kate!” Cassie was standing in the middle of the area, clear in view of the protesters, shouting Kate’s name. Kate imagined herself, for a second, shooting an arrow at Cassie, shutting her up. But she couldn’t. The protesters turned, as one, and stared up at the roof. Cassie stopped in the middle of her tracks and stared out at the protestors in amazement.

“How are there so many of them?” She asked, concerned.

“Well done Kate!” Someone call from the crowd. Kate glared down before turning back to Cassie. She opened her mouth, but before single syllable could escape, another call echoed across the grounds.

“Is America up there with you?” Kate buried her face in her hands.

“Yes!” America shouted. Kate wanted to cry.

“Kiss!!!” Several different voices demand.

“No!” Others shouted. “Think of the children, Kate!!”

“Kiss her for freedom!” Someone commanded.

“Don’t touch her for God!”

“If you kiss her we will all leave.” Kate’s ears perked up.

“All?” She asked hopefully, looking down at the crowd expectantly.

“FINE,” Kate snapped. “Fine!” She turned around and grabbed America. “I’ll kiss her!” She pressed down her lips on America’s. America initially stiffened in surprise, but before Kate could pull back, she relaxed into the kiss, opening her mouth. Almost instinctively, Kate found herself leaning into the kiss, licking into America’s mouth. Cassie coughed next to them, and they broke apart. The crowd below them cheered.

“This is the opposite of proof,” Cassie commented, pointing to America’s hand on Kate’s ass. America dropped it. Kate looked out at the protestors and sighed as they all cheered.

“Can we call the Avengers and ask them to sort this out?” She murmured. America smirked.

“I could just punch everyone….” she suggested. Cassie grinned.

“I’d like that!” She piped up.  

  
  



End file.
